Ultrasonic diagnostic equipment exists that scans the inside of a subject with ultrasonic waves and images the internal state of the subject based on received signals, which are reflected waves from inside the subject. Ultrasonic diagnostic equipment such as this transmits ultrasonic waves from an ultrasonic probe to inside the subject, receives reflected waves generated from the non-conformance of acoustic impedance inside the subject, and generates received signals. Furthermore, the direction orthogonally intersecting the ultrasonic wave-transmitting and receiving direction may be referred to as the lens direction (the direction in which the ultrasonic waves are diffused or converged, i.e., in which the lens effect occurs), slice direction, or elevation direction. Moreover, the direction orthogonally intersecting the ultrasonic wave-transmitting and receiving direction as well as the lens direction may be referred to as the array direction.
The ultrasonic probe comprises a piezoelectric vibrator that generates ultrasonic waves by oscillating based on the transmitted signals and generates received signals by receiving the reflected waves. The piezoelectric vibrator in which a plurality of elements is arranged in the array direction is referred to as a one-dimensional array ultrasound transducer.
With the purpose of reducing the side lobe of an acoustic field in the lens direction of the one-dimensional array ultrasound transducer and uniform acoustic field, one technique involves weighting the transmitted sound pressure strength and the receiver sensitivity with respect to a piezoelectric vibrator 3. The technique of weighting may be referred to as a weighting technique.